Day 1: Went to school and swiped my attendance card (after all, I had a class to pretend to be at). Because I had to swing by "school" first, I couldn't leave with the rest of my group. Instead, I would meet them at the bus station. Bad move. I took a bus that should have taken half as long as it did, but I left right at rush hour. I got downtown at the exact time that I was supposed to be at the bus station (10 blocks away). I ran my ass off through the cities parks and busy intersections, stopping every few blocks to confuse the hell out of a police officer. Here's a sample conversation:
Me: Huff...Puff...Excuse me, where is Retiro Station? (In English, my thoughts were way scattered)
Cop: Huh?
Me: Oh yeah, I'm in Argentina.
Cop: Huh?
Me: ¿Donde está la estación Retiro?
Cop: Huh?
Me: Con los autobuses, collectivos, micros, whatever you call them here.
Cop: Ah, por alla. (That way)
Repeat 2x
I finally arrived--panting way more than I should have been. My big backpack and heavy hiking shoes took quite a toll. After I found the group, I was told in the ever-so-laid-back Argentine fashion that the bus company had decided to push back the departure time one hour. Oh.
The bus trip was a relatively pleasant 12 hour ride with seats that fully reclined and would have been quite comfortable for a normal-sized person. Sigh.
Day 2: We arrived at our destination around 8am. From here on out, the trip would only become more amazing. We transferred to a private bus that took us to the ruins of an old mission. The colony was set up to convert (read: deal with) the very large native population based in this part of the country. Celebrating the cultural massacre that defined early colonialism isn't exactly my cup of tea, but there's always something cool about walking through the remains of 400 year old buildings. Here's a pic:
We spent the afternoon hanging out at a working farm/yerba mate plant. It was kind of like a very laid back dude ranch. The farm grew citrus, tea trees, and yerba mate--a similar plant that is brewed in its own special way to produce the national drink. It is heated in an oven an shipped to vendors for packaging and marketing. Here's what the "factory" looked like, I wouldn't expect anything less from this place.
Day 3: We spent the day in the Iguazu National Park, and "amazing" doesn't even come close. The morning was spent exploring the jungle and seeing some smaller falls, I took a ton of pictures, here are a few:
We finished up our time in this area by boarding power boats that took us very close to some of the bigger falls. We got ripped around by the current, and soaked by the spray at the base of the falls. Very fun!
The afternoon was spent taking a train to a different part of the park and seeing the big one, La Gargatua del Diablo (throat of the devil). This is a giant hole in the ground that swallows up the water at the meeting point of three large rivers. It's essentially the meeting point of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, and yt's one of the biggest falls in the world. The falls consume 1,000,000 liters every second. Pictures don't even come close, sorry.
Day 4: We spent the morning (after a third night of almost no sleep and an early wake-up) going to a native reservation. Obviously, the population is a tiny fraction of its original number, but the culture still exists as well as it can in our modern world. Until a few years ago, it was closed to the public and was a true cultural preserve, but the growth of tourism chased out many of the large animals that the tribe ate, so they needed to find another way to feed themselves. They are now supported by the very tourists that once threatened their existencence. How ironic. Of course, I have many thoughts on the subject, but this posting's already long enough! I'll post again after I get some sleep!
Talk to you soon,
Myles
